Chapter 8: Not Interested in Challenging Human Nature for Now
"I didn't open the boxes I collected this afternoon; I'm going to open them all at once now."
Pei Hening watched him open the boxes with great interest. She had to admit his luck was truly abysmal; many of the boxes contained Rat Monsters.
"Ge Ge, what's your Luck stat?"
Chu Xuange unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took a large gulp, and said helplessly, "3."
Pei Hening: "...If I come across any items or skills that can increase Luck, I'll give them to you."
"Sure."
Although items that increased Luck were rare, he didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm.
Chu Xuange saw that she wasn't sleepy, so he didn't hang up the call.
Thus, Pei Hening witnessed a scene that looked like a god of slaughter had descended upon the world.
Chu Xuange gripped two slender swords and stepped out of the vehicle's protection range.
In that instant, night monsters swarmed from all directions, surrounding him completely. They attacked with claws, fangs, and beaks, but he handled them with ease. His movements were clean and efficient; every strike claimed the life of a monster.
Among these swarming night monsters, besides the Rat Monsters she had seen before, there were also strange birds and reptiles. She broke into a cold sweat for Chu Xuange.
She rummaged through her card album and sent over items that could be used for healing, such as [Primary Healing Potion] and [Family Medical Kit].
One hour later, after Chu Xuange had finished a round of slaughter, he looked terrifying—as if he had been fished out of a pool of blood. His clothes were completely soaked.
She felt a pang of pity: "Let's stop here for today. Don't push yourself too hard."
Chu Xuange poured the remaining mineral water onto a black short-sleeved shirt to wipe the blood off his face. He grinned and said, "Baby, are you worried? I'm not hurt. The ones in trouble are those monsters outside."
Pei Hening rolled her eyes at him and said crossly, "How could I not be worried? Those monsters surrounded you like a zombie siege. If I didn't know better, I'd think you killed their ancestor."
Chu Xuange chatted with her during his break and only hung up the call to continue hunting monsters after she fell asleep.
On the third day of Road Survival, they completed their target mileage as usual while opening boxes along the way.
Following Chu Xuange's example, Pei Heningalso began collecting boxes during the day and opening them all at once at night. Her resource collection speed was much faster than the previous two days.
On the fourth day of Road Survival, Pei Heningacquired a pair of black-framed glasses through her Talent's passive effect.
[Sorry, I'm Just Socially Anxious] (A)
Sorry, I'm Just Socially Anxious! It's normal to have a low presence, right? Reduces the wearer's presence.
Compared to this item, Pei Hening preferred the [Monkey Scholar's Gold-Rimmed Glasses]. At the very least, those could boost stats, whereas these glasses weren't of much use to her.
Just as she turned the item into a card and was about to tuck it into her card album, she suddenly remembered Chu Xuange's nightly monster hunting and decided to gift it to him instead.
Right after she sent the item, his video call came through.
When Pei Hening answered, his tone was serious. "Baby, a Parallel Road has appeared on my side. I'm going to minimize the video window first. Call me if anything happens."
Pei Hening understood the gravity of the situation. "Stay safe."
She thought about it and, just in case, minimized her video window as well. She also put away her personal butler 002 and her katana.
It turned out her caution was justified. Not long after she set off, a Parallel Road appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey, gorgeous! Is your vehicle a skateboard?"
A woman with a high ponytail, wearing a black uniform, called out to her. She was striking and had a strong, oppressive aura, yet she was leisurely driving a Senior Mobility Scooter with a flat tire.
The woman held a slender cigarette between her index and middle fingers, her face showing signs of exhaustion.
Pei Hening had no intention of stopping. She glanced at the woman and then looked away. Without knowing the other person's background, she didn't want to start any conflict.
"Don't be afraid, gorgeous. It's been days, and I've finally run into a living person. Let's chat."
The woman drove her Senior Mobility Scooteralongside her. Sensing Pei Hening's rejection, she added helplessly, "Sister, I'm really not a bad person."
Pei Hening silently tapped into her personal panel, hid her information, and then stopped her skateboard.
She looked at the woman and asked, "What do you want to say to me?"
The woman took a final drag of her cigarette and stopped her vehicle as well. Leaning her arms on the window, she sized Pei Hening up and asked, "Can you cook?"
Pei Hening shook her head. "No. These past few days, I've just been eating the buns I get from boxes."
The woman hesitated. "Could I trade some ingredients for some of your buns?"
For the past two days, all she had been getting from boxes were ingredients.
But she had no cooking utensils, so she couldn't process those ingredients at all. If she kept them too long, they would spoil.
She couldn't find anyone in the chat channel to take the ingredients either. After calculating her own food reserves, she wanted to take the chance of meeting someone to trade for some ready-to-eat food.
Just as Pei Hening was about to refuse, Chu Xuange's voice sounded in her ear: "Baby, trade with her. I'll make you some fresh food."
"Okay. I'll have my boyfriend transfer the buns over."
The woman was about to light another cigarette, but she looked up at those words, a hint of envy flashing in her eyes. "You're so lucky to have someone you know in the same zone."
She got out of the car carrying a bag of ingredients. "There are vegetables, meat, and noodles in here. I want at least 15 buns for it."
Pei Hening nodded. "Deal. We can't give any more than that."
"Player [Ning Ning Little Princess] has gifted you Vegetable Buns * 15."
After they exchanged resources, the woman asked, "Can we add each other as friends? If I get more ingredients, I can trade with you again."
Pei Hening did not agree.
She would rather stay in her shell.
She didn't want to gamble on human nature, at least not for now.
If she added this woman as a friend, the other person would discover she was the [Di Bi Di Bi] who had appeared on the server-wide announcements. There was no guarantee the woman wouldn't get greedy and try to attack her.
Her personal stats hadn't increased yet. Without using items or her katana, she wasn't sure if she could beat her. She didn't want to take that risk.
The woman was extremely disappointed. "Alright then. I'm [Lemon Tree Lemon Fruit]. Hope to see you again."
She left, satisfied with her bag of Vegetable Buns.
Only after the Parallel Road disappeared did Pei Hening relax her tense nerves.
She maximized the video call window and said with a serious expression, "Ge Ge, I think I need to improve my strength."
As she spoke, she saw Chu Xuange kicking the corpse of a strange man to the side of the road.
Xiao Hua, who had been playing dead by the roadside, suddenly opened its massive mouth and swallowed the corpse in one gulp. Once its petals closed, crimson blood seeped out. The scene was eerie and gruesome!
"After the newbie protection period ends, we both have to go to school for classes. We'll learn close-quarters combat first."
"What's the deal with that guy?" Pei Heningasked, blinking in curiosity.
"He tried to get close to me on purpose. When he saw how many supplies I had in my car, he tried to kill me and take them. I killed him instead."
He glanced regretfully at the car parked not far away. "It's a pity I don't have an 'Auto Mechanic' class certificate. Otherwise, I could have salvaged some useful upgrade materials from it."